Recession creates critical need for CROP Walk funds
July 29, 2019 at 12:37 p.m.
What started 30 years ago as a small band of individuals cleaning up debris on a beach in Sandy Hook has blossomed into a major event that involves over 1,100 participants, hundreds of volunteers, and fundraising successes surpassing the $1 million mark.
On Oct. 18, Red Bank Regional High School will host the 29th Annual Red Bank CROP Walk for the Hungry, which is now the largest walk in New Jersey and the fifth largest in the United States, according to information on the organization’s website, www.geocities.com/redbankcropwalk/. More than 85 school, service and faith-based groups from varied denominations participated in the 2008 walk, which raised $118,787 and resulted in the collection of 6,700 pounds of food for local food pantries and feeding programs.
Fifteen different organizations serving the community will benefit from 2009 fundraising efforts, including the food pantry in St. Anthony of Padua Church, Red Bank, and Project Paul, Keansburg. Organizations who receive aid from the CROP Walk participate by sending teams of volunteers.
Ed Markiewicz, director of the food pantry, said that the parish’s Social Concerns Ministry has participated for many years. He noted the event will help food pantries meet ever-increasing demands due to current economic conditions. “We are up 85 percent from one year ago in the amount of food distributed from our pantry,” Markiewicz stated. He added, “The demand on all food pantries has risen dramatically since the start of the recession. Though the economy may be on the mend, the trauma caused to all families of the unemployed has not abated.”
Lionel Menard, executive director of Project Paul, a ministry of St. Ann Parish, Keansburg, and the largest food pantry in Monmouth County, has a walking team of six assembled to date.
Menard also noted an increased need for services in 2008 and 2009 coupled with a decrease in donations.
“We experienced a 50 percent decrease in the amount of food we received,” Menard stated, emphasizing the facility’s reliance on the success of the CROP Walk. “Churches, schools and organizations from all different denominations walk together, united in service to over a billion people who go hungry every night in this world,” he added.
Red Bank Catholic High School assembles one of the largest teams, according to Menard. “Sister Joan Marie and Sister Regina of the Red Bank Catholic Life Club do a wonderful job of supporting the needy in our area,” he said, “and Project Paul is very grateful.” CROP Walk Organizer Janie Schildge confirmed that the school has sent a growing contingent of between 250 to 300 people and raised close to $16,000 for the 2008 CROP Walk.
CROP stands for “Communities Responding to Overcome Poverty” and is the community hunger appeal of Church World Service. CWS started in 1947 to help Midwest farm families share their grain with hungry neighbors. At present, 22 regional offices across the United States organize more than 2,000 CROP Walks every year. Participants raise money by asking people to sponsor them for the distance they walk – five to six miles.
This distance is representative of the average distance that women and children around the globe have to endure in order to bring water back to their villages. Funds raised help people in 80 countries, including the United States. Twenty-five percent of the money raised is returned to the local community in the form of donations to organizations which support those in need.
In addition to sponsorship money, participants are urged to support the “Hunger Free with Three” campaign by bringing jars of peanut butter, boxes of rice and cans of beans to the event for distribution to food pantries and other organizations.
Additional information on the Red Bank CROP Walk, which will begin at 1:30 p.m., is available by contacting Janie Schildge at (732) 741-0528 or Sue Glossbrenner at (732) 530-7674.
Donations may be sent to Red Bank CROP Walk, P.O. Box 8022, Red Bank N.J. 07701. Red Bank Regional High School is located at 101 Ridge Road, Little Silver.
The Trenton Ecumenical Area Ministry (TEAM) will hold its annual CROP Walk Oct. 18 starting at 2 p.m. at Trinity Cathedral, 801 West State St., Trenton. Participants are asked to arrive at 1:30 for a brief program that precedes the walk.
Local agencies to benefit from the walk include Mobile Meals of Trenton, The Salvation Army and Mount Carmel Guild.
Donations may be sent to the TEAM Office, 700 West State St., Trenton, N.J. 08618. Make checks payable to CWS/CROP. To donate online, visit http://www.churchworldservice.org.
For more information on the Trenton CROP Walk, call 609-394-9229.
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What started 30 years ago as a small band of individuals cleaning up debris on a beach in Sandy Hook has blossomed into a major event that involves over 1,100 participants, hundreds of volunteers, and fundraising successes surpassing the $1 million mark.
On Oct. 18, Red Bank Regional High School will host the 29th Annual Red Bank CROP Walk for the Hungry, which is now the largest walk in New Jersey and the fifth largest in the United States, according to information on the organization’s website, www.geocities.com/redbankcropwalk/. More than 85 school, service and faith-based groups from varied denominations participated in the 2008 walk, which raised $118,787 and resulted in the collection of 6,700 pounds of food for local food pantries and feeding programs.
Fifteen different organizations serving the community will benefit from 2009 fundraising efforts, including the food pantry in St. Anthony of Padua Church, Red Bank, and Project Paul, Keansburg. Organizations who receive aid from the CROP Walk participate by sending teams of volunteers.
Ed Markiewicz, director of the food pantry, said that the parish’s Social Concerns Ministry has participated for many years. He noted the event will help food pantries meet ever-increasing demands due to current economic conditions. “We are up 85 percent from one year ago in the amount of food distributed from our pantry,” Markiewicz stated. He added, “The demand on all food pantries has risen dramatically since the start of the recession. Though the economy may be on the mend, the trauma caused to all families of the unemployed has not abated.”
Lionel Menard, executive director of Project Paul, a ministry of St. Ann Parish, Keansburg, and the largest food pantry in Monmouth County, has a walking team of six assembled to date.
Menard also noted an increased need for services in 2008 and 2009 coupled with a decrease in donations.
“We experienced a 50 percent decrease in the amount of food we received,” Menard stated, emphasizing the facility’s reliance on the success of the CROP Walk. “Churches, schools and organizations from all different denominations walk together, united in service to over a billion people who go hungry every night in this world,” he added.
Red Bank Catholic High School assembles one of the largest teams, according to Menard. “Sister Joan Marie and Sister Regina of the Red Bank Catholic Life Club do a wonderful job of supporting the needy in our area,” he said, “and Project Paul is very grateful.” CROP Walk Organizer Janie Schildge confirmed that the school has sent a growing contingent of between 250 to 300 people and raised close to $16,000 for the 2008 CROP Walk.
CROP stands for “Communities Responding to Overcome Poverty” and is the community hunger appeal of Church World Service. CWS started in 1947 to help Midwest farm families share their grain with hungry neighbors. At present, 22 regional offices across the United States organize more than 2,000 CROP Walks every year. Participants raise money by asking people to sponsor them for the distance they walk – five to six miles.
This distance is representative of the average distance that women and children around the globe have to endure in order to bring water back to their villages. Funds raised help people in 80 countries, including the United States. Twenty-five percent of the money raised is returned to the local community in the form of donations to organizations which support those in need.
In addition to sponsorship money, participants are urged to support the “Hunger Free with Three” campaign by bringing jars of peanut butter, boxes of rice and cans of beans to the event for distribution to food pantries and other organizations.
Additional information on the Red Bank CROP Walk, which will begin at 1:30 p.m., is available by contacting Janie Schildge at (732) 741-0528 or Sue Glossbrenner at (732) 530-7674.
Donations may be sent to Red Bank CROP Walk, P.O. Box 8022, Red Bank N.J. 07701. Red Bank Regional High School is located at 101 Ridge Road, Little Silver.
The Trenton Ecumenical Area Ministry (TEAM) will hold its annual CROP Walk Oct. 18 starting at 2 p.m. at Trinity Cathedral, 801 West State St., Trenton. Participants are asked to arrive at 1:30 for a brief program that precedes the walk.
Local agencies to benefit from the walk include Mobile Meals of Trenton, The Salvation Army and Mount Carmel Guild.
Donations may be sent to the TEAM Office, 700 West State St., Trenton, N.J. 08618. Make checks payable to CWS/CROP. To donate online, visit http://www.churchworldservice.org.
For more information on the Trenton CROP Walk, call 609-394-9229.